Food Conditioned Black Bear Put Down In Yellowstone National Park

At approximately 5 p.m. July 11, Yellowstone National Park staff lethally removed an adult female black bear following a series of concerning incidents at a backcountry campsite located in the Blacktail Deer Creek drainage in the northern part of the park.

On June 7, the bear crushed an unoccupied tent at the campsite.

A few weeks later, on July 11, the bear climbed the site’s food storage pole, tore down properly stored food bags, and consumed the campers’ food.

Although it is uncommon for bears in Yellowstone to obtain human food, when it does occur, bears can quickly become food-conditioned and may act aggressively or dangerously around humans, putting both people and wildlife at risk.

The bear’s escalating behavior – including property damage and obtaining a significant food reward – posed a clear threat to visitor safety and warranted removal.

The decision to kill the bear was based on:

• 1. Ongoing concern for human safety
• 2. Property damage to camping equipment
• 3. The bear learning to defeat the park’s backcountry food storage poles to obtain human food

“We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from gaining access to human food in all areas of the park,” said Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone bear management biologist. “But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to make the difficult decision to remove the bear from the population to protect people and property.”

In accordance with Yellowstone’s bear management practices, each of the park’s 293 backcountry campsites is equipped with either a food storage pole or a bear-resistant storage box.

Park guidelines require backcountry campers to hang food from the pole or secure it in the box at all times except when cooking or eating.

Yellowstone reminds all visitors that utilizing these bear safety measures remain crucial in ensuring public safety and preventing wildlife from developing dangerous habits.

The last black bear killed in a management action in Yellowstone was in July 2020, when a black bear injured campers and accessed human food at a backcountry campsite in the park.